Designing for Screen: Notes (so Far) (Georgina Shorted)

I've been reading 'Designing for Screen' in order to gain further understanding of the role 'Art Director/ Production Designer' and what the job entails. In our team, I am taking more of an 'Art Director' role, focusing on design/overall aesthetic so it seems like a good idea to understand these roles and pick up any tips and advice.

Here are some  notes I have taken from the first chapter or so…

Something that stood out for me was the phrase:

'Colour is especially important for lower budget productions as it is virtually impossible to build elaborate sets without a decent budget'

As we have a very limited budget I'll have to keep this in mind. We are wanting a quite busy set at some points, but perhaps this would be just as effective with a few items that are striking and coloured in a way that stand out etc. The importance of colour is something I established in my dissertation project, and is something I will be playing with. I have already started discussing what works in certain films, such as Wall-E etc, and feel that that 'rustic' colouring of coppers and browns would be interesting. However I wouldn't want our project to seem to 'washed' with just one range of colour, therefore further 'colour test' should help, and is something I shall consider when designing.

The book also highlights the differences between working in a studio and on location. We've experienced the latter when working on our live briefs, and certain elements like travel etc did prove tricky. It will be interesting to work in a 'studio' type environment, and have a lot more control over the elements, especially lighting.